Costa Rica authorities detain 51 illegal migrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan en route to the US

Costa Rica law enforcement officers detained 51 illegal migrants from various countries that were traveling in a truck near the Caña Blanca bridge in Jaco shortly before 3 a.m. on Wednesday. (MSP photo)

UPDATE/ Editor’s Note (4.29pm GMT-6): ICR News has learned from a reliable source that a total of three Iraqi nationals, not two as stated in the story below; and a Syrian national were also detained.

December 30^th, 2015 (ICR News) Costa Rica law enforcement officers detained 51 illegal migrants from various countries that were traveling in a truck near the Caña Blanca bridge in Jaco shortly before 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

Authorities detained 26 migrants from Nepal; 9 from Bangladesh; 9 from Somalia; 4 from Eritrea, 2 from Iraq and one from Pakistan.  None of the individuals possessed valid travel documents, according to authorities.

Three Costa Rican men who were transporting the migrants were arrested and could face charges of human trafficking.

It is believed the migrants’ ultimate destination was the United States.

Earlier this month, on December 7^th, Costa Rican authorities detained another 17 undocumented migrants from Nepal and Bangladesh in Golfito, in southern Costa Rica.

Central America is increasingly being used as a “land bridge” for migrants and refugees from around the world to reach the United States.

Migrants begin their journey by flying to Ecuador, in South America, a country that doesn’t require entry visas for nearly any nationality.  The migrants then continue their journey northward by land, illegally traversing Central America nations like Costa Rica along the way with the assistance of human smugglers and traffickers, known as “coyotes.”